Diffraction imaging of crystals with focused x-ray beams

Abstract

We describe an imaging technique based on diffraction of a focused x-ray beam in crystals. A focused beam is formed by a zone plate and Bragg diffracted from a crystalline sample positioned between the zone plate and the focus. The intensity pattern is recorded by a high-resolution charge-coupled-device detector placed in the focus. Diffraction images recorded from perfect Si and GaAs crystals for various reflections demonstrate the broadening of the focused beam due to a finite scattering length. The images from semiconductor epitaxial films and heterostructures show additional peaks originating from the interfaces with their spatial position corresponding to the depth from the surface. Diffraction images from isolated defects in Si crystal demonstrate capabilities to study bulk defects. Theoretical simulations for perfect crystals show excellent agreement with experiments. We demonstrate that the new imaging technique is depth sensitive and combines structural sensitivity of traditional x-ray topography methods with spatial in-plane resolution provided by focusing.